LOCAL

LOCAL
Phantom Rocketslose, 4-2
BOARDMAN -- The Phantom Rockets had a 2-1 lead in the second period before allowing the Toledo Ice Diggers of the Continental Elite Hockey League to score three straight times for a 4-2 victory Saturday at the Ice Zone.
Mike Shaw and Shane Jackman had the goals for Phantom Rockets (10-22), whose next home game is Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Ice Diggers.
Ursuline-Mooneyteam ties
CANTON -- Phil Colucci scored a goal with 38 seconds remaining as the Ursuline-Mooney High ice hockey team tied Massillon Jackson 4-4 Saturday in the Northeast Ohio Hockey League Saturday at the Center Ice Arena.
Luke Johnson scored one goal with two assists, while Steve Graziani and Joe Maiorana added a goal apiece for Ursuline-Mooney (6-2-3, 6-1-2). Eric Hodgins had one assist.
Goalkeeper Anthony Sabatka and John Izzo combined to stop 42 of 46 shots. Jackson had 46 shots on goal compared to Ursuline-Mooney's 34.
Ursuline-Mooney will take on Poland at the Ice Zone in Boardman Friday at 9 p.m.
Curbstone coachesto hear Hannon
BOARDMAN -- WYTV Channel 33 sports director Bob Hannon will be the guest speaker at Monday's Curbstone Coaches luncheon at the Lockwood House.
Playoff partyset today
GIRARD -- The Ohio Browns Boosters will sponsor a Browns-Steelers playoff party today at 1 p.m. at the Creekside Golf Dome. For details, call (330) 545-5000.
Bowling tourneyopens Feb. 28
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 71st Youngstown Bowling Association city tournament to be held at A-Plus Family Bowl and Wedgewood opens Feb. 28.
The team event will be conducted at A-Plus while singles and doubles competition will be held at Wedgewood.
The tournament starts with the proprietors squad kickoff. Dates for signup are March 1-2 and March 8-9.
This year's tournament will be divided into two divisions. Teams with 1,000 or more based on last year's average will be in the upper division while teams with 999 or less will be in the lower division.
The cutoff for doubles will be 400 while 200 is the divide for singles.
Handicap will be based on 90 percent of 1,100 team, 440 for doubles and 220 singles with no limit.
Entry fee is $17 per event with option for all-events costing $2.
Entries for the event close Feb. 19 at 9 p.m.
Sharon Speedwaysets banquet
HARTFORD -- Sharon Speedway's annual awards banquet will be Jan. 18 at the Yankee Lake Ballroom where division winners for the 2002 season will be honored.
The event is open to the public.
"The fans were a huge part of the renovated speedway's successful inaugural season," said Dave Blaney, Sharon Speedway owner, "and we definitely want to welcome them to our 2002 season celebration."
Also, speedway officials will announce plans for the 2003 season.
Tickets cost $27 and must be purchased in advance or held with a credit card and picked up at the door on the night of the event.
To reserve tickets with credit cards, call (330) 772-5481 or print the ticket order form from www.sharonspeedway.com and return it with credit card information or personal check to: The New Sharon Speedway, PO Box 159, Hartford, OH 44424. Fans also may fax the order form to the speedway at (330) 772-7704. Tickets must be reserved or purchased by Friday.
Poland Baseballelects officers
POLAND -- For the tenth year, Bob Richards has been elected president of the Poland Community Baseball Assn.
Jim Keenan is vice president of baseball and Dennis Reardon is vice president of softball. The treasurer of the group is Gary Bonner while Sam Fisher is the secretary.
The PCBA will have a food drive at its community center on Jan. 12 and Jan. 19 from noon until 4 p.m. For details, call (330) 750-0488.
NATION
3 Raiders to startPro Bowl game
HONOLULU -- Three Oakland Raiders veterans, including NFL most valuable player Rich Gannon, will start for the AFC in the Pro Bowl.
Gannon will face a lot of Tampa Bay defenders. End Simeon Rice, tackle Warren Sapp, linebacker Derrick Brooks and safety John Lynch of the Buccaneers all are NFC starters.
Gannon will be throwing to teammate Jerry Rice, and Raiders safety Rod Woodson also will start in the game Feb. 2.
There also will be three starters from the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins.
Kansas City running back Priest Holmes and Cincinnati fullback Lorenzo Neal will be in the backfield with Gannon.
The tight end will be Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez, and the other wideout is Marvin Harrison of Indianapolis.
Starting on the line will be tackles Jonathan Ogden of Baltimore and Willie Roaf of Kansas City. The guards are the Chiefs' Will Shields and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Alan Faneca. Kevin Mawae of the New York Jets goes at center.
On defense, the Dolphins have end Jason Taylor, linebacker Zach Thomas and cornerback Patrick Surtain in the starting lineup.
Joining Taylor up front are end Trevor Pryce of Denver and tackles Richard Seymour of New England and Gary Walker of Houston.
U.S. soccer teamstarts workouts
BRADENTON, Fla. -- The U.S. national soccer team worked out for the first time this year, preparing for exhibition games against Canada and Argentina that will test a young squad.
Coach Bruce Arena's team faces Canada on Jan. 18 in Fort Lauderdale and Argentina in Miami on Feb. 8. Qualifying play for the 2006 World Cup in Germany begins in 2004.
The roster for the Canada game could include 15 players with three games or fewer of international experience.
"One thing is for certain: We need to inject some new blood into our program," Arena said Saturday. "We have a lot of good players that lack international experience. So that's the name of the game here in 2003."
Two important tournaments follow this summer: the FIFA Confederations Cup in France in June and the CONCACAF Gold Cup the next month in the United States.
"Are we going to be talented enough and experienced enough to get it done," Arena said. "That's the initial challenge in year 2003, to get our team ready for qualifications in 2004."
Led by Landon Donovan and Brad Friedel, the Americans advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals last year. It was their best showing since the first tournament in 1930, when they made the semifinals.
Arena agreed to a four-year contract last month that will make him the longest-serving U.S. coach.
Staff/wire reports